The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-06-22
MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAIr-.WEDNESDAY. JUNE %. 1887

known as q poor player stiutting bis
brief hour upon the stage OF the Globe
Theater in London. Such mental mis-
direction is TO be pitied. What form
OF insanity equals that which tied ia
one subject holds the will enthralled
and pushes every sense to It's uphold
ing3 In the face OF exhausted scholar
ship that traces the almost extinct
foototeps OF Shakespeare from the
fields by Avon waters through the
devious paths OF the London Of bis day
dark, damp and wrsakirg
with the multiplied corupticns Of en-
sge when speech was not veiled, and
health and life we're sappsd by iguo-
rance, and appetite by passion and its
plsy-in the face of hiB abilities, at
tested by his friend and companion,
Ben Jonson, these wrscksis oil repu.
tation would make the world beievs
that not the Shakespeare whose wit at
the tavern rose above the wit OF
others, the best OF his contem POI aries,
not Shakespeare, but Bacon, the pEilo-
eopher, whose weakness in corruptions
makes his strength more strong, was
the writer Of the plays and tragedies
and comedies that run the wht le
range OF human know edge, and tx.
hsusted Fancy OF her sire IN tribute.
Hawthorne in "0ur Old Home" tells
the story of one of the first OF these, a
Miss Bacon. "Unques'ionaoly," he
says, "she was monomaniac; these
overmasteripg ideas about the author
ship OF Shakespeaie's plays, and tho
deep political philosophy concealed
beneath the surface OF them had com
pletely thrown her off her balance.
= I he'd half q mind TO sugses.
to her this explanation tf her theory
that there is no exhaus'ing TIE in.
terpretation of his symbols'-but
forbore,, because las l could readily
peTCeive) abe has IS princely a epiri,
as Queen L izabeth hereelf, and would
at once lave motioned me from the
room" Miss Bacon "b6 lieved that
the material evidence OF her dogna as
to the authorship would he found In
Shasespeare's grave" In Lord Ba-
cons letters abe had discovered the
key and clue to the whole mystery,
and she wanted, despite the anstbeua
of the poet tn disturb his bone3 that
she might find it oil Sin q hollow
space in the under surface of Snakes.
pesre's grave store" She went so far
as to consult ths Vicar and the Sex on
of the church az Avon es to diaen-
tombing this b nss of the post, but
when, as che tells, they consented, her
heart fAilei her she gave it
up Col Tossing that a new study
Gf Bacon's l,ters confused her 81 that
she could MT tell whether 1t was
Lsicester's, Bacon's or r Ieish grave
that wGs thus mystfri usly ia 1icaisd
Bot she pub shed her book, of which
Hawthorne says that it tumb.ed out
of the preas u ponderous octave
volume, which fell with dead thump
at the feet Of the public, and has
never been picked up" Soon nj or
this she became insaoe and n lit Q
while following passed to the happier
world. Since Miss Bacon's day three
other Americans have walked In her
footsteps and taken to themselves an
endless task. Tho editor OF Porter's
Spirit of the Times. a Journalist and
writer of distinction, published
book TO prove that Bacon and not
Shakespeare was the author OF the
plays and sonnets and tragedies that
nave always borne the imprint of his
name. But though written with gres.
power and the seeming strength of
logic this book failed TO make more
than a ripple upon the surface OF
the thought Of the writer's time.
His confessed labor Of years went for
nothing. Few if any cared to contro-
vert 1t as few would care to encounter
freak OF insanity. Later, iu 1872,
Mr.. Nathaniel Holmes essayed the
same tack ard failed. Lately Mr.. Igns
tins D1nnelley, the author Of Tire
Lost Atlantis" and "Rsgusrok," works
OF some merit for research, has under.
taken to accomplish what Miss Bacon
failed in, bit by.a: diffeien method.
He believes he hes discovered the key
to the cryptogrspby OF Boon
and thus will be able to
prove that the philosopher wro'e the
plays aud tragedies and sonnets that
have for centuries been scceped as
Shkkespears's. Bat hs will fail as the
others have failed. Ben Jonson, ono
of the sturdiest E2glshmcn of his
time, a poe, playwright, cotempo-
rsry and boon companion OF Shakes.
peare, wrote of him that
"He was not for an age, but for all time"
And
each change of many colored life he drew,
Exhausted worlds and then imagined newp
Ben ] onson, of whom the sturdiest
memories yet remain Ito the English
speaking stage, was dubbed "Rars
Ben" by the poet Herrick, himself
Que of the most noted worthless OF our
tongue. But besides these named,
others, nearly all OF them anonymous
writers, have made arguments to con-
fine the reputation OF Shakespeare to
the lowest forms Of lust and drunken
ness, shrewd money getting, as q man
of capacity for the acquisition OF
wealth, who had no promptings TO
COW in the field OF dramatic art, no
powers Of elevation to lift him above
or take him ont OF the groveiing
world OF self and into the domain Of
fancy, where Ariel and Puck dwelt
and played their merry prsnkp. One
of these anonymous writer's, "Anti
quarry" devoted himself TO proving
that Shakespeare did not write the
nneis of which, it Is GENERALLY con-
coded by scholars, that they are the
finest in our langusge, perhaps in any
language. His argument WAS confined
to dates and the relative social posi-
items OF Shakespeare and Bacon. To
all this there is but one answer to
make, and that is that, notWihstand.
ing the childish Airg Of Greene, a fel-
low drsma,ist, now almost forgotten,
that Shakespeare was q make-Oelieve,
who dressed inlborrowed feathers, the
evidence Of the wizards hand in all
his work, as a oonsummate master Of
the stage, who, with his words, made
up for all the deficiencies Of ecsnery
and accessory, captured and enthralled
his auditors by his word paintings, so
that with "imaginations all compact"
they could "Dody forth" each to him
self the scenes wherein his characters
disported themselves. There is no
trace OF Bacon In ths lines that still
| hold magic, for the maas of men, and